Drunk airplane passengers

Susan Hall: For each of the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 how many drunk airplane passengers were dealt with by the Met, broken down by airport?

The Mayor: Please see attached the requested data for the period specified.

London Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls strategy (1)

Shaun Bailey: What specific outcomes have been achieved as a result of the London Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls strategy?

The Mayor: A huge amount of work has been undertaken to deliver the London Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls strategy. Key outcomes include:
The development of the Women’s Safety at Night charter.
Implementation of the Whole School Prevention pilot in four Croydon schools. This is focused on gangs, serious youth violence and violence against women and girls within the context of healthy relationships; resilience and enabling young people to make positive choices.
Establishment of the Stalking Threat Assessment Centre within the MPS, which assesses risk of offending and puts appropriate treatment and management plans in place to address stalking behaviour.
Development and implementation of the Drive programme. Drive is an intensive, coordinated multi agency response to domestic abuse perpetrators to change their behaviour, and has been running successfully in Croydon.
Establishment of London Survivors Gateway. The London Survivors Gateway offers victims and survivors of rape and sexual abuse help to access specialist services in London.
£200k contribution from the Victims Fund to support the London Councils Harmful Practices programme.
Development and implementation of the London Victim and Witness Service, which includes enhanced provision for victims and survivors of Domestic Abuse. Independent Domestic Violence Advocates are co-located in hospitals, police stations and the MPS Witness Care Units. This is an integrated service that facilitates better information sharing and collaboration.
The publication of the London Rape Review undertaken by MOPAC and the Victims’ Commissioner in July 2019. The review has developed recommendations and in addition a detailed plan of further research and work.
Development and publication of a new public dashboard for VAWG which is updated monthly, highlighting trends, providing details on perpetrators and victim profiles.
The Modern Slavery Board has been developed and is working collaboratively to tackle issues around domestic servitude in London
In recognition of the lack of central government funding - at a time of increasing demand - I recently added a further £15 million to funding for VAWG services in London, on top of the £44m attached to the London Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls strategy. This additional money supports services and helps to deliver the objectives of my VAWG strategy. We have allocated £1.35m of that funding to help some of those services at breaking point to meet the increased demand. This investment is already working to save lives, reduce waiting lists and keep doors open for vital specialist support services for victims. We have also allocated £7.5 million across 5 new services to support women and girls and deal with the increase in demand. In addition, £3.4 million has been allocated to develop grass-roots provision, supporting the growth and networking of community-based organisations responding to VAWG in London. And a further £1.9 million has been allocated to sustain current innovation projects, the Sexual Violence Triage Project, DRIVE (DA perpetrators) and the London Stalking Threat Assessment Centre.

Green Dale Fields Football Stadium

Caroline Pidgeon: How are you weighing up the protection of metropolitan open land (MOL) with the needs for a new stadium for Dulwich Hamlet FC and what protections, if any, are you recommending to Southwark Council for this application?

The Mayor: I considered the stage 1 referral on the 11 November last year. The proposals relocate the existing playing pitch onto an area of Green Dale Playing Fields currently occupied by Astroturf pitches. Green Dale Playing Fields is designated as MOL and the London Plan accords the same protection to MOL as Green Belt land. The National Planning Policy Framework advises that inappropriate development is harmful to the Green Belt and should not be approved except in very special circumstances.
The stadium building is located outside of the MOL designation. The development on MOL includes the pitch and associated infrastructure. The provision of a replacement pitch is an appropriate development which preserves openness and does not conflict with the purpose of the designation. The proposed fencing/screening is not appropriate development. Very special circumstances must be therefore be demonstrated and I agreed with officers there are very special circumstances on the basis the club is required by the FA to: enclose the ground with a boundary treatment of at least 1.83 metres; include measures to restrict viewing from outside the ground; and, provide floodlighting.
Through enclosing the pitch and screening the playing surface, access to the stadium can be controlled to the benefit of the users of the facilities and their safety. Floodlighting the pitch allows the operational hours to be extended allowing for increased usage and community access and satisfies requirements placed upon the club by the FA.

Communication between CIRAS and TfL in 2013 and 2014

Keith Prince: Please send me copies of all communications (including handwritten notes, emails and any other documentation) between CIRAS and TfL during 2013 and 2014.

The Mayor: I have asked Transport for London to provide a response to this question. The response time may be affected by the ongoing Covid19 situation.

March 2014 CIRAS Report about Fatigue and TOL Croydon Tram Drivers

Keith Prince: Further to Question 2019/21047, please send me a copy of the March 2014 CIRAS report and First Group TOL’s response to it.

The Mayor: I have asked Transport for London to provide a response to this question. The response time may be affected by the ongoing Covid19 situation.

Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission

Nicky Gavron: How will you be responding to the “Living in Beauty” report from the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission that was published at the end of January?

The Mayor: I will be drawing the commission’s attention to the positive work I’ve done in this area. My Good Growth by Design programme promotes quality and inclusion in the built environment by setting standards, scrutinising investments, decisions and policies, and advocating for the best, with the help of my Design Advocates. Good Growth by Design shares some of the ambitions of the commission and City Hall has fed into the development process of ‘Building Better, Building Beautiful’. I’m pleased to see some of our innovations reflected, for example the promotion of design management protocols for organisations with significant commissioning power. My new London Plan significantly raises the bar for design, urban greening and energy performance. It requires local design codes and characterisation studies. My Transport Strategy promote Healthy Streets, securing more human public spaces and reducing the dominance of motor vehicles.

Knife crime strategy (1)

Shaun Bailey: MOPAC's map data compares all MPS boroughs over a 12 month period, noting high crime volume boroughs in red and low crime volume boroughs in green. What efforts has the Mayor made to reduce the volume of weapon-enabled crime in London boroughs?

The Mayor: Reducing violence, including weapon enabled crime, is a primary concern for both the Commissioner and myself. As Mayor, I have supported the Met by investing £15 million to form the Violent Crime Task Force (VTCF), which now has 300 officers dedicated to tackling violence. The VCTF has teams of officers who deploy in response to recent events and ongoing crime trends. Between April 2018 and February 2020, the VTCF has carried out 14,181 weapons sweeps, recovered 1,514 knives, 999 offensive weapons and arrested 8,722 suspects.
Alongside this, there has been a substantial amount of City Hall investment aimed at reducing weapon enabled crime including London’s Knife Crime Strategy, which contained 46 commitments across multiple partners, the vast majority of which have been delivered. I’ve created the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), bringing together specialists from health, police, local government, probation and community organisations to tackle the underlying causes of violent crime. The VRU have supported local authorities and partnerships to develop borough violence reduction plans to ensure that local work to tackle violence and weapon enabled crime is co-ordinated and follows good practice.
I have made a large investment in prevention such as activities funded through my £45 million Young Londoners Fund, £2.8 million funding to community groups in neighbourhoods experiencing higher levels of violence and my London Needs You Alive campaign letting young people know how important they are to this City.

Live facial recognition in London

Siân Berry: Are you satisfied with the use of facial recognition in London?

The Mayor: New technology can have a role in preventing crime, catching offenders and keeping the public safe. But it’s equally important that the Met are proportionate in the way it is deployed and are transparent about where and when it is used in order to retain the trust of all Londoners. I do, of course, understand why some people are concerned, which is why I have called for national guidance from the Government.
In the first two successful deployments over 13,000 faces were seen, six people were stopped by the police and one person was arrested who was wanted for failing to attend court on a charge of assaulting two police officers. The other five people were found not to be matches and no further action was taken. I understand this generates concern, but I do believe a balance needs to be struck.
If new technology, including LFR, can help make London safer without infringing on civil liberties – and at the moment I don’t believe it does – then I will continue to support the police.

Planning reform report

Nicky Gavron: Do you agree with the recommendations in the recent Policy Exchange report, “Rethinking the Planning System for the 21st Century”, that local elected officials should be removed from their decision-making role in the planning system?

The Mayor: No, the necessary checks and balances to ensure good decisions by local politicians are already in place. Firstly, national policy requires permission to be granted without delay where the proposed development accords with the development plan. Secondly, the appeals process, including costs awards, disincentivises unjustified decision-making.
In a report that advocates community involvement, a move to exclude democratic representation at decision stage would appear contrary to this approach.

Police use of live facial recognition (7)

Siân Berry: During operational deployment of live facial recognition (LFR) technology by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), the MPS has told a constituent: “where a match is made but no prosecution follows and there is no legitimate policing purpose for retention, biometric data and CCTV will only be retained for up to 31 days.” Can you tell me where and how the data is stored by the MPS?

The Mayor: Initial storage is on the stand-alone LFR system. For those very small number of records that may need to be retained longer, they are stored on MPS secure servers in line with their data security and retention policies.

Body worn video footage disciplinary action

Unmesh Desai: How many officers have faced disciplinary action as a result of their body worn video footage being reviewed since its rollout, broken down by year?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) does not record data in a way that allows the identification of instances when BWV is the catalyst for an investigation.
Body Worn Video (BWV) provides independent evidence of what has happened and is often crucial information for the police professional standards investigators or the IOPC in helping to determine whether or not an officer has conducted themselves properly.
Equally it may disprove the allegation by highlighting the professionalism of the officer and the misconduct allegation will be closed.
There are also occasions when BWV will be viewed for one specific allegation, but reveal there is another issue of concern which requires separate investigation.
It is MPS policy to review BWV (when available) in relation to every public complaint and allegation of misconduct.

2014 Report from CIRAS about Fatigue from TOL Croydon Tram Drivers (1)

Keith Prince: Why was First Group TOL not contractually obliged to alert TfL of the Report from TOL Croydon Tram Drivers published by CIRAS in March 2014?

The Mayor: I have asked Transport for London to provide a response to this question. The response time may be affected by the ongoing Covid19 situation.

2014 Report from CIRAS about Fatigue from TOL Croydon Tram Drivers (2)

Keith Prince: In your response to Question 2019/21047, despite your confirmation of the Director of CIRAS’s 11 November 2019 letter which asserts ‘TfL would not have necessarily known to look for it or been aware it existed” until Jill Collis requested in November 2017, based on documents released by you in Question 2019/17339 there is (1) an email from 16 June 2017 to First Group TOL’s Head Safety from the TfL Audit specifically asking for
“Copies of issues raised through CIRAS/FirstGroup reporting system. I wrote down that you have had two from each system. (Particularly the CIRAS one that related to fatigue” and (2) mention of the 2014 CIRAS report section 4.1 of IA 17780 published on 15 September 2017 (http://content.tfl.gov.uk/management-of-fatigue-in-tram-operations.pdf) ie., “Confidential reports have been received twice on First Group’s system and twice on CIRAS. It was evidenced that only one of these reports, received via CIRAS in 2014, referred to fatigue. This related to fatigue caused by shift rotations and included a response by TOL.”
Accordingly, neither your response to Question 2019/21047 or the Head of CIRAS’s 11 November 2019 letter to TfL Legal can be considered correct especially since Jill Collis was copied to IA 17780 on 15 September 2017 on a Restricted and Confidential Basis.
Don’t you agree that this seemingly unending pattern of untransparent behaviour from TfL executives about what they knew (or didn’t know) about the Fatigue Management problems at First Group TOL’s Croydon Tram operation from 2014 onward merits an Independent Investigation?

The Mayor: I have asked Transport for London to provide a response to this question. The response time may be affected by the ongoing Covid19 situation.

Details of Consultations between TfL and TOL about IA 13744

Keith Prince: Thank you for finally sending me the documentation I requested in October 2019 for Question 2019/19749 in February 2020. When can we expect to see a link to this documentation posted on the GLA website?

The Mayor: I have asked Transport for London to provide a response to this question. The response time may be affected by the ongoing Covid19 situation.

Erroneous Statement contained in your 1 October Letter to London Assembly Chair Jennette Arnold rejecting the 4 July London Assembly Croydon Tram Motion

Keith Prince: In your 1 October letter rejecting the London Assembly Motion requesting an Independent Investigation to discover why TfL failed to provide IA 17780 to the Croydon Crash Investigation, you stated that IA 17780 was a "single report, which was commissioned following a separate incident on the tram network in May 2017”. In documents released under Question 2019/17339, a 8 June 2017 email from a Senior TfL HSE Manager to First Group TOL specifically states “It is perhaps worth pointing out that whilst this work is partly in response to the incident last period, it is not an investigation into that event and so we will not be asking for specific information about that Individual or sequence of events relating to the incident.” Will you accept that IA 17780 was the first Internal Audit of First Group TOL’s entire Fatigue Management System since July 2014 and not a “single report relating to a separate incident” (i.e, a significant downgrading of IA 17780’s importance) as you have implied in your 1 October 2019 letter?

The Mayor: I have asked Transport for London to provide a response to this question. The response time may be affected by the ongoing Covid19 situation.

TfL not holding a copy of the Abstracked Solutions March 2014 Audit of TOL’s Safety Management System

Caroline Pidgeon: In your delayed response to Question 2019/20157 you state that “Transport for London does not hold a copy of this [Abstracked Solutions] report” yet Point 4.0 (page 9) of the 2014 internal audit of Tram Operation Limited’s Croydon Tram (IA 13 744) clearly states that First Group TOL’s Safety Management System contained “seven weaknesses”. Is your confirmation that TfL does not hold a copy of this report an admission that, in 2014, (a) TfL never received a copy of the Abstracked Solutions Report? and (b) TfL did no work to ensure that Tram Operations Limited had corrected the seven weaknesses identified by First Group Tram Operations Limited’s independent audit?

The Mayor: I have asked Transport for London to provide a response to this question. The response time may be affected by the ongoing Covid19 situation.

Excessive vehicle noise

Tony Devenish: For each of the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 how many reports of excessive noise generated by vehicles have been reported to the Met broken down by borough?

The Mayor: The MPS do not hold this data. Noise complaints are ordinarily dealt with by local councils.

London Safety

Shaun Bailey: Do you think Londoners feel more safe now, than when you first took office?

The Mayor: I think that Londoners and people across the rest of the UK are rightly concerned that a decade of Government funding cuts to the police, schools, youth services and local councils have had a serious impact on our safety.
I completely sympathise with anyone concerned about their safety or the safety of their families. I am also concerned. That is why I have been doing everything in my power to try and plug the funding and leadership gap left by the Government’s cuts. I have increased council tax to help pay for 1,300 more police officers.
I have launched an additional £55.5m package to tackle the root causes of crime by reducing school exclusions and providing more mentors for young people.
And I have created London’s first Violence Reduction Unit to work with communities, schools and councils to pursue and public health approach to tackling violence.
I urge the Government to join me in providing meaningful funding and action to help make London safer.

2014 Report from CIRAS about Fatigue from TOL Croydon Tram Drivers

Keith Prince: Further to your response to Question 2019/21047, do you guarantee (1) that no one at TfL had any information before IA 13744 was initiated about the March 2014 report to CIRAS from First Group TOL drivers relating to fatigue and (2) that no one at TfL received a copy of the 2014 Abstracked Safety Audit before IA 13744 was initiated? If the answer to these questions is that you do so guarantee, do you agree that it is an extraordinary lapse for TOL not to have provided TfL with information about serious safety breaches and concerns among their drivers, and that TfL giving the operation a "Well Controlled" rating in July 2014 in IA 13744 now looks like tragic mistake?

The Mayor: I have asked Transport for London to provide a response to this question. The response time may be affected by the ongoing Covid19 situation.

November 2017 Request from TfL to CIRAS about a copy of the 2014 CIRAS Report about the Fatigue Concerns of First Group TOL Tram Drivers.

Keith Prince: In your response to Question 2019/21047, you attached a 11 November 2019 letter from the Head of CIRAS to TfL’s Legal Department which states, “The Sandilands accident took place in November 2016 and a year later in November 2017 following a request from Jill Collis at TfL, the report was shared with them.” Please provide me with a copy of that November 2017 Request from Jill Collis.

The Mayor: I have asked Transport for London to provide a response to this question. The response time may be affected by the ongoing Covid19 situation.